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South London, Kent, Surrey and Sussex As property prices continue to fall around the country, London’s surrounding counties are still seeing a steady drop in the value of flats. In particular, Sussex have seen an average value drop of 8.19% in the last year, with the average flat price falling to £162,752, compared to a drop of 6.83% in Surrey and 7.4% in Kent, falling to £208,058 and £158,586 respectively. However, despite the average value decrease and recent housing market slump, flat prices in the ma

The more you see and hear the more you think the English legal system is less about common sense and more about absurdity. Well recently we have received our own share of dealings with the justice system both County Court and LVT. Now where we are different (and probably rightly so from my experience to date) is that I will handle matters and not engage lawyers, unless it gets to a position of technicalities. Let me explain. I have a personal County Court claim against a kitchen fitter where their sole de

The Carsberg Report has called for the regulation of all property management, including property managed direct without agents: “there should be a statutory requirement for all relevant agents and landlords to be members of an approved regulatory regime”. I can’t see a great deal to argue with but, as with so many areas of leasehold reform, haven’t we been here before? The management industry, or at least the responsible part of it, has been advocating statutory regulation for more than 10 years. Governme

It was with some interest that the team at Pathmeads and those within the Registered Social Landlord (RSL) movement looked upon the recent Carsberg review. The main points of the review were: information needs to be straightforward and clear to customers and consumers; control over the practitioner, by making it simple and; a consistent form of redress that is universal. For those of us in the RSL industry, participation with our customers and consumers, guidance to the practitioner and a universal form o

Financial institutions MiNC Apartments’ client base in London is over 90 per cent corporate and a large amount of that is from financial institutions. The vast majority of the company’s apartments are either around the City or the Docklands and they boast the likes of Goldman Sachs, RBS, Barclays and Merrill Lynch as regular tenants. “We see it as a growing market,” Kamran continues. “We have research reports from Savills confirming this to be the case. There is no single player or brand name out there th

Change of tenant EPCs are valid for 10 years and can be reused as many times as needed within that period. In short, it is not necessary to arrange for a new EPC each time there is a change of tenant. Landlords providing emergency accommodation are exempt, up to a point. Where a tenant requires accommodation because of an emergency there may not be enough time to arrange an EPC before renting out the home. The EPC must however be provided as soon as possible after the property has been rented. Various f

Erinaceous Insurance Services Limited (EIS) announces its rebranding and will operate as Barbon Insurance Group Limited (www.barbon.com). The name change and unveiling of the new corporate identity reinforces the company’s position as one of the UK’s leading independent property and commercial insurance brokers. Leslie Goodman, Executive Chairman of Barbon Insurance Group comments: “The rebranding means we can shake off the shackles of the past and start to implement new initiatives designed to enhance ou

Economics, government housing policy and the state of the market will kick off Property Week’s second annual RESI conference in the toughest market conditions for 15 years. Subtitled ‘riding the rollercoaster’, RESI 08 will take place at the Celtic Manor Resort on 18th and 19th September and has attracted more than 650 delegates to date. Economist Roger Bootle, Homes & Communities Agency chief executive Sir Bob Kerslake and Berkeley Homes’ forthright MD Tony Pidgley (pictured right at front) are headline

Chainbow, a leading residential property management company, is rallying behind its new business manager, Pauline Southam, who has been selected for a 2009 Ice Warrior Expedition to the Geomagnetic North Pole and will attempt to achieve two world firsts. Pauline aims to claim the title of the oldest lady to reach the Geomagnetic North Pole and will be part of the first all woman’s team of trained novices, if she successfully completes her mission in April next year. Pauline explains: “I wanted to do some

Wayne Morris of Towergate Risk Solutions, block of flats insurance providers, recently completed a 12,500 foot skydive on behalf of a number of charities. His team’s efforts raised more than £8,600 by the end. Wayne told News on the Block: “The experience is one I definitely want to repeat although it’s a bit hairy dangling legs out of the airplane at such a great height just prior to falling out – can’t go back now.”  If you would like to make donation call Wayne at Towergate Risk Solutions, North Lo

Prime Central London bucks the trend With all of the major house price indices reporting falling capital values, some encouragement came from the FT House Price Index that showed that London property prices are faring better than those elsewhere in the country. The index, which tracks completed sales rather than agreed mortgages, highlighted house prices across the UK dropped by 0.3% in July, but that the fall would have been double if the London data was removed. The report showed that London property p

7.18am: Find an overnight email that a property has had a flood. Why they don’t ring the Emergency number escapes me. They usually say they don’t want to bother anybody. I yearn to tell them the emergency number isn’t only for Tsunamis. 8.43am: I’ve volunteered to train a group of property managers for their IRPM exams. Hard work for them but there are incentives for passing. 9.27am: Relieve those manning the phones. Incoming calls “hunt” round the office until someone is found who can answer. Receive a